Ways to Blame Yourself
by Bleach Ninjas with Fire
Summary: (Double Update) In one day a group of friends are split and one is left in the hospital while all the others are left blaming each other for it. Only when they combine their stories are they able to uncover the truth of it all. Each of the friends hold a secret. A few different pairings seen and mentioned.
1. Chapter 1

**Ways to Blame Yourself**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Naruto franchise, I do however own the storyline… but I do however own twelve pairs of headphones, that isn't important to the storyline, I'm just babbling.

**My Note:** This fanfiction is based off a story I once wrote in script form for a school assignment and I decided to share it with you lovely people. Since, when I wrote it I was inspired by many different Anime series I will present it with the characters changed to Naruto Shippuden characters. I hope you enjoy it.

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_17th November, 2012 – Saturday Morning_

Kiba had always hated hospitals. The overall cleanliness of the buildings caused his nose to twitch in discomfort and the brightness of the white walls hurt his eyes. But nevertheless, here he stood, side by side with Sakura in a small, old hospital room. The life support machine beeped slowly by the bed, each beat reminding the pair of the horrible events that had transpired just the other day.

He stared at his feet, dirty black sneakers a stark contrast against the white, tiled floor, KIba didn't dare look up at the bed. He was afraid to say the least, so scared because he knew who he would see lying in the bed before him. Sakura on the other hand couldn't stop staring at her friend who lay injured in the hospital bed. Her eyes were filled with sadness but not a tear could be seen.

Ever since they started Highschool, Sakura had become more and more strong and independent. She always seemed ready to put her friends in their place if they started to irritate or annoy her. Kiba found it hard to believe that this girl beside him used to be a huge cry baby before High School. Then they all became friends with Ino and Sakura seemed to change for the better. But while some things had changed, other things hadn't and Kiba didn't want to find out whether Sakura still had any of the crying left in her.

"Kiba…?" Sakura murmured, as if she was only making sure that he was still there, standing next to her.

Exhaling slowly, Kiba couldn't say anything at first, he was too afraid that if he opened his mouth to speak his voice would falter or break… or that he would throw up all over the hospital's clean white floors. After a long moment, Kiba finally found his voice, calm and strong, and answered his classmate.

"Sakura…" he replied.

"They… all of our friends… everyone…" Sakura started slowly. "They all think that it was your fault that he fell."

"I know that…" Kiba stated, the small iota of confidence and calmness he had leaving his body.

"He was so calm," Sakura muttered, biting her bottom lip in frustration as a tear finally began to form in her eye. "Dammit, Sasuke."

"Sasuke?" Kiba asked confused, looking up at Sakura before he stopped in panic.

Just now, without even realising it, he had looked at the bed, his friend lying in the bed. In his idiotic confusion he looked up and could see it through the corner of his eye.

Slowly, Kiba turned to the bed and almost gasped at the sight. He could see the tight white sheets which had crumpled underneath his friend's limp arm. His skin had already become sickly pale and his usually spikey hair had become weak, limp strands of blonde which covered the bandages around his head. The bandages were painfully white with just the slightest touch of red.

Already he could already see tears beginning to form in Sakura's eyes and Kiba could be damned if he was going to let any of them be shed. Plus, if the two of them were to end up breaking down now he had no doubt that a nurse would have them removed from the room and that was the last thing the pair wanted to happen.

"J-Just forget about it Kiba… Forget I mentioned Sasuke… Is he going to be okay?" Sakura asked Kiba, gesturing to their injured friend.

"… I hope so…" Kiba sighed, weakening as he watched the unconscious student.

"Naruto," Sakura whimpered as she leant back against the hospital wall.

"Why did she have to… I mean… why did Ino…. and Hinata… all the others… She should've just kept quiet so that-" Kiba began to rant as he became louder and louder.

"I know," Sakura cut him off, becoming the one to stare down at her shoes.

As Kiba began to calm down, he fell forward to his knees and his head pressed against the edge of the bed. He of course felt a comforting hand from Sakura on his shoulder as he kneeled there, eyes closed as he finally gave in and silently sobbed into the hospital bed sheets. Kiba could feel Sakura crouch down next to him and raise her hand on top of his head. At first he thought that she was going to join him in his misery but he honestly wasn't sure whether he was glad or sad when she didn't.

"You need to stop this and pull yourself together Kiba," Sakura ordered sternly.

Kiba's eyes widened at Sakura's suddenly harsher tone. He hadn't expected her to be so… direct. If it was any other girl Kiba expected their roles to be reversed and have him comforting the distraught girl… Except with Temari, perhaps. But Sakura's inner strength has a habit of bringing out the little habit truths in people, especially with Kiba and more so… Naruto.

"If Hinata sees you like this…" Sakura reasoned as she began to helped the burly student to his feet. "Well I don't think she could handle see both you and Naruto in your conditions. And what if Kankuro comes in? You have to be strong, for your sake and Naruto's."

"Yeah… strong like you, Sakura," Kiba smiled to the girl, standing with her once again.

He turned to the bed and his smile vanished, his tone once again sad as he whispered to Naruto, "I'm so sorry."

Kiba began to raise his hand to the blonde's face but was cut off by the sliding of the small room's door behind him. Kiba thought it must have been a nurse until Sakura proved otherwise.

"You!" Sakura cursed at the intruder and Kiba turned quickly to see who it was.

Sakura glared at the student and Kiba couldn't help but let out a quiet growl.

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**My other note:** Ok, here is the first chapter, it's kind of short but on the other hand I only had to write a short script and I'll expand on the original anyway. So reviews would be absolutely great… have I told you how wonderful you look today? No? Shame because you are outstanding! You look like you are ready to post a review, don't you think. You can even PM if you want to. And I'll be replying to all reviews that are worth it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ways to Blame Yourself**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Naruto franchise. I do own this storyline and I'm proud of it.

**My Note**: So this is my second chapter of my story, based off of a script that I wrote once upon a time. I hope you guys like it and I'm sorry that it's been so long.

And if Magneato is reading this then I'm sorry for saying sorry.

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_16th November, 2012 – Friday Afternoon – Lunch Break_

Kiba let out a weary sigh of exhaustion as he finished running through his club exercises for the day and exited the school locker room, club activities had run through most of lunch again. He felt absolutely ready to head down for his lunch as he could feel his stomach rumbling loudly in anticipation. It was hardly unusual for Kiba to grow an extremely large appetite after sparring against the other Karate Club members for so long. The biggest problem in Karate Club was the fact that he was constantly being challenged by Rock Lee to spar for the position of captain for the Club. It would be easier to just forfeit the position or throw a match but he knew that Lee wouldn't want to become Captain like that . . . and also Kiba's pride wouldn't allow him to lose on purpose. However for now, he simply wanted to go and sate the ever growing hunger in his stomach.

"_Man I hope Hinata's brought something good today!" _Kiba thought to himself excitedly as he began to salivate profusely at the thought of different lunches that she could have packed for him. _"Doesn't matter what it is as long as it's better than whatever Sakura brings . . . her cooking always tastes a bit . . . off."_

With a chuckle, Kiba wiped the droll that had begun to roll down his lip and started to hastily make his way to the bottom of the hill that the school sat proudly upon. Once he reached the base, he was standing in front of an immensely tall wire mesh fence that bordered the back of Konoha High and separated it from the small forest that grew wildly on the other side. After a brief moment of searching through the fence's links, as it never took him too long to find it, Kiba came across a fairly large tear in the wire that he pulled away so he could climb through to the other side without the fear of the risk of catching his uniform on the broken stems of wire.

Once he had made it to the other side and stood tall with the trees, and after turning back to the hill to check that no other student or teacher had seen him pass through, Kiba started to make his way through the trees until he found the place that he was searching for.

It was now that Kiba stood at the beginning of a small clearing with smooth and even ground while also being free of any large trees. However on the furthest point from Kiba, directly opposite from Kiba, stood a tree that was large and thicker than any of the others and this particular tree jutted out into the clearing slightly. To the trees left sat a rather old and worn looking three person couch that had been moved into the forest by Kiba himself after his dog, Akamaru, had begun to tear it to pieces and Kiba's mum decided to have it replaced. But waste not, want not.

On this particular couch sat three girls the same age as Kiba, the shockingly tough Sakura Haruno, the peppy and popular Ino Yamanaka as well as the scarily timid Hinata Hyuga. Kiba saw that Sakura was sitting on the left side of the couch and was in conversation with Ino who was sitting in the middle, finally on the right side of the couch was the lovely Hinata who sat quietly next to the pair of girls. He also noticed with a hungry smile that there was an untouched bento box wrapped with a pricy cloth.

Allowing his eyes to wander from the mysterious box, Kiba finally took notice of the three boys who were sitting by the base of the tree, leaning against the large trunk. Sai sat furthest to the right and seemed to be once again enthralled with drawing in his art book. Sasuke Uchiha on the other hand was furthest to the left and sat in the space between the tree and the couch, he wasn't paying any attention to the others as, like Sai, he was busy with a book though this book seemed rather heavy looking and it managed to give Kiba a headache just by its mere presence. And last but by no means least was Naruto Uzumaki who sat dead centre between the other two dark haired males and had a ridiculous grin plastered over his face as he spotted Kiba coming into the clearing. The warm grin made Kiba realise just how much he and Naruto differed from the other two males.

Oddly enough, Kiba noticed that Naruto's smile had become contagious and he met Naruto with a wolfish grin of his own. Noticing the ridiculous expression stuck on his face, Kiba did his best to wipe it off as he grew slightly confused at his sudden emotion change. It takes a lot for him to forget about his appetite.

"KIBA!" Naruto shouted his greeting as he stared brightly at the brawny brunette. The blonde's loud greeting alerting the other five students at his presence.

Kiba found himself receiving varying levels of greeting from the other members in his group, a wave from Sakura and Ino, a small and shy wave from Hinata, a thin grin from Sai who looked up from his book and finally there was Sasuke who didn't even bother to look up.

"Hey Naruto . . . ," Kiba smiled fondly at the blonde before shaking his head and looking at the others. "And hey there everyone else."

"You know how long it is until we have class?" Naruto called out, despite Kiba being much closer and within inside voice limits. Kiba chuckled under his breath as he watched Sasuke bring his book closer to his face in a false hope of regaining his concentration while Sai's hand grew shaky as he sketched the mysterious image.

"Dude, lunch only started a little while ago so . . . ," Kiba trailed off as he thought on it for a moment.

"We've got thirty minutes Kiba," Sasuke muttered impatiently from the behind the pages of his book. "Thirty minutes."

"Thanks Sasuke," Naruto smiled at the raven haired student. Kiba could almost see the smug smile on the Uchiha's face as he hid behind his book.

"Yeah . . . Thanks Sasuke," Kiba mock-agreed with Naruto, half-heartedly and his voice tainted with bitterness. "Not like I couldn't figure out that myself."

"Sometimes I wonder," Sakura piped up from the couch with an entertained smile and despite his attitude, Kiba couldn't help but flash a smile back at her. However, the Inuzuka's smile soon vanished as he watched her grab a small box from behind the couch and offer it up to him. "I didn't think you'd bring any lunch again so I brought you something I made at home."

"O-Oh, I did as well K-Kiba . . . if you want some . . . ," Hinata whispered quietly from her seat and picked up her Bento Box from her feet.

"Hey thanks Hinata," Kiba smiled in relief and turned away from Sakura, taking Hinata's gift for him. "You want some too, Naruto?"

"Sure I'd love-" Naruto began to answer but was cut off with a whimper as he caught sight of Sakura's glare.

"Hey what about my extra lunch?" Sakura asked the pair of boys angrily as she rose from her seat and was surprised as she was met with a grimace on both of the boy's faces.

"I can think of a reason," Ino laughed from next to Sakura.

"We're fine with just Hinata's lunch," Kiba answered quickly, almost tripping over his own tongue as he hurried to answer the girl.

"Y-Yeah, I'll just share with Kiba," Naruto continued on. "We share food all the time."

"But why would you share when there are two meals for you . . . ?" Sakura asked sceptically. "Kiba you just got back her from Karate Club, I made sure that my lunch is full of all the necessary ingredients for a healthy meal that will make you feel one hundred percent."

"B-But . . . ," Kiba stuttered in an attempt to find an escape route but was horrified when he failed to come up with a believable excuse.

"SAI WOULDN'T HAVE ANY!" Naruto shouted desperately, causing Kiba to jump at the sudden loud noise beside him.

"YES!" Kiba exclaimed in agreement, spinning on the spot and pointing at Sai. "SAI WOULD LIKE TO HAVE LUNCH AS WELL!"

All eyes fell upon the black haired boy who sat furthest from the group, even Sasuke turned to look as he wondered how Sai would answer the irritated girl. Sai looked up from his book and revealed the rather fake smile that he wore. The group held their breathe in anticipation as they all expected a dangerously blunt answer back.

"Oh no, thank you. I've already eaten today . . ." Sai replied with his smile stretched across his face as he trailed off and looked back at his art book. All except Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as Sai seemed to finish his reply . . . And yet . . . "If it's Sakura's cooking then I'm sure it will turn out to be quite disgusting."

And yet they should have known that Sai wouldn't quite while he was ahead. The boy lacked any sense of tact and if there was ever a time for someone to be subtle, of course Sai would be as blunt and direct as anyone could be.

"What was that Sai?" Sakura asked slowly, anger beginning to spark in her eyes as she glared at Sai. It took the combined effort of Kiba, Naruto and Ino to hold the pink haired girl back from Sai who didn't move a single inch from where he sat.

"Oh you heard him Sakura," Ino stated as she huffed in the effort it took to hold back the girl. "Don't make this into something even bigger than it should be."

"You know how Sai is!" Naruto exclaimed in an attempt to calm her.

"Your food isn't that bad, Sakura!" Kiba shouted in agreement. However, with Kiba's final comment on the matter, Sakura stopped in her attempts to approach Sai and allowed the three students grabbing onto the back of her shirt to fall forward to the ground and effectively spill her homemade lunch across the ground.

Ino, Kiba and Naruto all grounded on the ground as Hinata held tightly onto her knees and the two black haired boys looked on with slight amusement, though no one could even be sure as to which one out of the two was actually sincere with their expression and not just putting it on for the group.

Slowly, Ino rose to here feet along with Naruto and while Ino slumped back down onto the couch with slight weariness and annoyance, Naruto retrieved Hinata's bento box which had also fallen. He lit up with a smile as it didn't seem to be damaged or spilled. But when Kiba tried to stand up as well, he felt his back weighed down by Sakura's foot set firmly upon his back. Now Kiba was by no means weak, but he refrained from pushing himself to his feet against Sakura's pressure as he didn't want to end up knocking Sakura over. He was a nice guy like that.

"What do you mean that my food 'isn't that bad'?" Sakura asked with fire blazing away in her eyes. Kiba would have answered, despite his answer would most likely come after a moment of thought and stammering in slight fear, but he found himself cut off by Ino who now had quite the look of concern mixed with confusion and slight sadness.

"Kiba . . . ?" Ino spoke up, sounding unusually nervous as if she had taken a page from Hinata's book.

"Huh?" Kiba responded as he looked up from the ground. From his viewpoint he could only just manage to see Ino at the top of his vision.

"Do you . . . like Naruto . . . ?" Ino managed to stammer out and met almost everyone with a mixture of surprise at the question but also realisation as to why she had a sudden personality change.

"Oh Jesus," Sakura sighed and wiped a hand across her face, stepping of Kiba and allowing him to climb to his feet in a scampering hurry. She walked over to the couch and crashed into the cushion next to Ino and allowed her focus to wander to something unusual that caught her eye.

"Wh-What?" Kiba asked in disbelief. Despite being one of the most intimidating boys at the school, losing only to a few, Kiba had never in his life felt so . . . confused. "What do you mean Ino? What do you mean 'Do I l-l-'?"

"It's fairly obvious that he doesn't like Naruto," Sai cut in all of a sudden, making the group all turn to face him. "After all, he's already in a relationship with Kankuro. Right, Kiba?"

"What? No," Kiba answered angrily. "Kankuro's like a brother to me."

"Well some brothers are closer than other," Sasuke stated nonchalantly, closing the pages of his book and staring smugly at Kiba.

The group went silent for a moment, only the individual breathes of the members of the group could be heard. And it was in this moment that they didn't seem like a group. Kiba could hear the short and nervous breathes of Hinata. He could hear the embarrassed breathing of Ino. Sakura could be heard with breathing that seemed to be filled with annoyance. Sasuke's breathing was calm and cold while Sai's also was calm but felt slightly warmer despite the boy's similarity. Finally there was the last person breathing in the group, short and sad as it came from behind Kiba. Kiba was about to turn to look at the student but was interrupted as Ino spoke up yet again.

"Well!? Is it true!?" Ino almost shouted at Kiba who could do nothing but stand there with wide eyes. "Are the two of you-? Or Kankuro? OR WHAT!?"

"Ino please . . ." Hinata whimpered from beside her.

"Ino," Sakura warned sternly.

"Ino, it's totally Kankuro," Sai smiled from his spot by the tree.

"C'mon Kiba," Sasuke offered up the boy the chance to answer. "Why don't tell us the answer."

"A-Answer . . ." Kiba managed to stammer. He tried to focus on how stupid he sounded right now but instead he was being mentally thrown about through multiple feelings and emotions that fought for dominance. But Kiba couldn't figure out which ones would win to struggle to the top.

"Do- you- like- Naruto?" Ino said slowly but loudly. Her repeated question cut off all over noise from the rest of the group.

And Kiba suddenly realised what feelings came out on top within. . . Pride and Anger.

"OF COURSE I DON'T LIKE NARUTO!" Kiba roared angrily as he exploded with rage.

Sai, Ino and Hinata all stared at Kiba in shock at the sudden outburst, but then Hinata could not stand to look at her friend in this state anymore and turned to bury it into Ino's shoulder. Sai wore that unattractively fake grin on his lips but Kiba ignored his presence almost completely. And of all the people in the group, Sasuke sat in his spot with the largest and smuggest shit eating grin that anyone could ever see.

"I DON'T LIKE NARUTO!" Kiba repeated for emphasis.

"Kiba . . ." Sakura warned sternly but went ignored for the large, shouting brunette.

"AS IF I WOULD EVER- AS IF ANYONE WOULD-!" Kiba went on in his desperate and angry defence.

"KIBA!" a voice shouted at him, making him turn and look with a snarl on his lips.

"WHAT?" he roared but suddenly stopped as he saw that it was Hinata who looked at him with an angry look in her eyes. She sat with her eyes wide in warning and her hair hanging like a curtain around her face. All of Kiba's anger vanished all of a sudden and were replaced with shock as he recoiled and looked down to the ground.

With a painful amount of slowness, Sakura lifted a hand a pointed to Kiba's left and his eyes opened in realisation. Turning to what . . . who she was pointing at . . . Kiba filled with even more shock as he stared at Naruto who stood behind him. Naruto wasn't crying, not even silently sobbing to himself, but instead merely stood there with a small and apologetic smile on his face.

"Naruto . . ." Kiba managed to say, breaking the silence that had enveloped the entire area. They couldn't even hear the sounds that should have been coming from the school building or any of the students gallivanting outside. "Naruto . . . I am so . . ."

He couldn't even finish his pitiful attempt at an apology before he bolted off, back towards the school. Kiba was scared slightly, which was a concept quite new to him.

"Kiba wait!" Naruto shouted after the brunette and chased after him, not looking back towards the others for even a second.

The rest of the group sat in silence as they allowed the recent events to sink in. Sai's smile had actually vanished from his face and the three girls were feeling varying levels of shame whether it was for themselves or another. Sasuke however, was wearing a smile now and leapt to his feet with an unpleasant amount of happiness present in his figure. He only bent down for a second to pick up his book and begin to walk out of the clearing but stopped to turn and face the four remaining students.

"That Naruto is a loyal little mutt isn't he?" Sasuke chuckled darkly. "I guess a dog will still be loyal even after you kick it."

Sasuke turned away from the four once again and began to continue out once again however he couldn't help but twist back suddenly as hurried footsteps approached him. He managed to spin around in time to see, but not stop, a mighty slap from Sakura which hit him squarely in the left cheek.

"Sasuke Uchiha you are an utter bastard," Sakura hissed at him before beckoning for Hinata but leaving Ino behind, oddly enough. The two girls left the clearing next with Hinata throwing a worried look back. "You people need to learn to stay out of other people's business."

"Well that looked quite painful," Sai announced as he approached Sasuke. Ino hurried past Sai to help Sasuke but found that she was instead pushed away by the Uchiha.

"Shut up Sai," Sasuke cursed the boy's name as he glared coldly at the smiling boy. "I'll fucking hurt you if you don't shut it."

"Yes because I'm going to be afraid of an Uchiha who was just bitch slapped in front of all his friends by a girl with pink hair," Sai chuckled slightly and casually walked back towards the school building.

After a moment of watching Sai walk out of view and earshot, Sasuke rose and composed himself. He delicately touched his cheek but found it to still sting slightly at the touch.

"Let's go Ino," Sasuke muttered suddenly and walked offstage with the girl following behind closely though with slight hesitation in her steps.

No longer did anyone in that group feel the least bit certain with where they stood with one another. It was going to unfold to be quite the unfortunate day for their little group of friends.

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**My Secondary Note: So I hoped that you liked this here second chapter and there will be definitely more in the future. There will also be chapters that weren't in the original script and each (both original and non) will all expand on the characters and reveal the truths of Kiba, Sasuke, Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Sai and Naruto.**

**Please review if you could be so kind and PM with any concerns that you have. Flames are welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ways to Blame Yourself**

**Disclaimer: **Pretty sure you guys have figured out that I don't own Naruto, you're all smart like that… except you Sarah.

**My Note: **Ok, I don't even know if any 'Sarahs' are reading but still. Imagine their faces.

Anyway back to business . . . this is the third chapter of my fiction and I hope you all like it. Don't forget to review after you're finished reading or PM with any concerns.

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_17th November, 2012 – Saturday Morning_

Sasuke walked briskly into the front room of the Konoha Hospital and couldn't help but yawn tiredly, rubbing at his eyes so that he could remove the trace amounts of sleep that clung to his black lashes and touching his cheek tenderly where a bruise had formed. It was obvious that he hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep the night before which was kind of strange as his father had always insisted to both him and his brother that they needed to be well rested and at least get eight hours of sleep a night.

The raven haired student shook his head vigorously in an attempt to himself of the last few remnants of tiredness that floated through his system. Looking up from where he stood, Sasuke spotted the room's reception desk and the young woman that sat there. She looked busy talking on the phone and looking down at the papers in front of her however Sasuke did not feel in a waiting sort of mood as he approached and coughed quietly to gain the girls attention.

It was time such as this that Sasuke was glad he was good looking, watching the girl hang up the phone and turn her full attention to the raven haired Uchiha. He didn't change his expression from his usual cold and uncaring one; he didn't have to as the girl just stared at him with wide eyes and stammered out in a poor attempt at communication.

"H-Hello, welcome to K-Konoha Hospital . . . How may I help you?" the girl asked as she tripped over her own words as she stared quiet rudely at him. Sasuke almost glared at the girl as he couldn't help but think that this girl was worse than Hinata Hyuga, although worse because the almost unbearable stammering was being directed to him instead of Naruto.

"Yes hello Miss-" Sasuke replied with his suave, cool voice.

"-Karin . . ." the woman swooned at the Uchiha, making him roll his eyes internally.

"Hello Miss Karin-"

"Just Karin."

". . . Hello Karin," Sasuke continued on, annoyed at being interrupted for something that he did not care about in the least. And twice at that. "Could you do me a small little favour with that computer of yours and find me a particular person I'm looking for?"

Sasuke already knew the answer he was going to receive.

"Oh, of course."

"Thank you. I'm looking for the room of Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke informed the lady and waited patiently as she began to type into the computer. He did his best to refrain from tapping his foot in impatience as the woman searched through her computer as quickly as she could. It wasn't even a minute before she turned back to Sasuke with the necessary information.

"Mr Uzumaki is on the floor above us, room one, one, zero," Karin stated, smiling slightly as she looked up at Sasuke who had already turned away from her. But even as he started to walk away from her, Karin remembered something that she didn't find greatly important but would still let her talk to the boy for a bit longer. "U-Um . . . He has two other visitors who came in earlier. A boy and girl . . . Just if you wanted to know."

Sasuke didn't even hesitate in his steps or look back at the girl attempting to gain his attention, instead the boy just continued on until he was out of the room and walking through the hallway and heading to the stairs. He could feel himself seething with both annoyance and distaste as he deduced the two most likely of Naruto's friends who had already come to visit the unconscious student.

Taking the stairs, as elevators had always annoyed him by the way that they reminded him of visiting his father's office building when he was younger. Step after step he rose to the second floor until he made his way to the second storey and exited the stairwell.

Sasuke closed the door behind him and began to walk through the brightly white and pristine hallway, beginning to count the numbers on each door as he passed them and searched for a particular room. He sighed in relief now that he had put a floor between himself and the frivolous minded girl downstairs who's swooning reminded him of having to put up with the like-minded students at Konoha High, both female and male alike. Oh the problems that Sasuke had to put up with were just part of the consequences that came with being so pretty.

"_100 and 101 . . . 102 and 103 . . . 104 . . . 105 . . . Kiba is probably one of the one's already here . . . that moron . . . always getting in my way . . . 108 . . . 109 . . . and here is room 110 . . . ," _Sasuke thought to himself and clicked his tongue in annoyance at the thought of the brown haired meat headed moron cluttering up the room with his unnecessary presence_. "Though Naruto should be glad that I'm even bothering to come and check on him after that little event . . . I'd be studying but exams have been postponed so there's no hurry anymore . . . I'd be finishing that book but Itachi insisted that I check on my . . . friend . . ."_

The Uchiha had stopped as he reached room 110 and started to peer through the door's small window and saw to no great surprise the figure of Sakura and unfortunately . . . Kiba. It was no doubt Kiba as Sasuke couldn't mistake the broad and muscular frame clad in a white and red horizontally striped polo shirt along with dark blue denim jeans as well as the brown dishevelled hair that sat atop of his head.

Sasuke then threw a quick glance around the rest of the room and easily spotted Sakura who was standing off at the side, sticking close to the wall with her bright pink hair pinned up so that it stuck up spikily. She was wearing a dark blue tank top and short black skirt that clung to her figure with slight inappropriateness.

Stepping back from the door, he brought his hand to the handle and hesitated as he was about to turn it. Throwing a look to the left and to the right, Sasuke smiled as he noticed that not a single person was walking through the long hallway. No nurses, no doctors, no patients, no visitors, nobody at all. Sasuke wasn't particularly concerned either way but he took a moment to soak in the brilliant absence of presence before he was ready to enter Naruto's room. He readied himself mentally for the onslaught of anger that he expected to receive from Kiba, after all the boy had quite the temper that manages to get him into all sort of trouble.

"_Why is it that something like this can be so annoying?" _Sasuke thought bitterly and clicked his tongue in distaste once again before he composed himself and slid the door open.

* * *

Kiba slowly raised his hand to meet Naruto's unusually pale face but instead found himself interrupted by the sound of the room's door sliding open. Sakura turned to look at the newcomer while Kiba instead just did his best to ignore the noise and instead just chose to believe that it was one of the hospital's nurses or doctors coming to check on Naruto's current condition. However . . .

"You!" Sakura almost seemed to curse the word.

As Sakura shouted, Kiba turned to the door quickly and frowned as he saw the raven haired student, Sasuke Uchiha walking through the now open doorway, not even bothering in the least bit to shut it behind him. Kiba couldn't help but let out a low aggressive sounding growl as Sasuke walked straight past him and without so much as a look towards anyone in the room, conscious nor unconscious, sat casually on the end of Naruto's bed next to the sleeping blonde's legs. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Kiba couldn't help but notice a light bruise on Sasuke's cheek.

The Uchiha had his raven coloured hair in his usually messy ducktail with his bangs hanging around his fair skin. Sasuke was wearing a dark red button down shirt that was well tailored to his figure along with a black best that sat around the shirt unbuttoned. Black trousers covered his legs, again well-tailored, and a black belt wove around the top more for aesthetic purposes rather than practical ones.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kiba continued to growl at the Uchiha who rolled his eyes in response.

"What do you want Sasuke?" Sakura asked wearily, the boys mere presence tiring her out.

There was no response for a moment while Sasuke looked up at the pair. Kiba opened his mouth to continue on but instead stopped as Sasuke brought a finger up to his mouth. "Sssh. You two should try to keep it down, this is a hospital after all."

"Yeah . . . we know that," Kiba answered coldly as he began to clench his fists.

"Don't act like we're idiots Sasuke," Sakura responded as she two clenched her fist. But as she clenched her fist, she relaxed it again, repeating this a few times as it had become an old habit of hers.

"What are you doing here?" Kiba asked the Uchiha impatiently and was met with a raised eyebrow.

"Isn't it obvious Kiba? I'm here, like the two of you, to visit our dear friend Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke explained as he patted Naruto's leg. Kiba and Sakura both glared at the disrespectful act that Sasuke was committing though the Uchiha either didn't notice or didn't care. Though if Kiba was to take a pick of one . . .

As Sasuke patted Naruto's leg repeatedly, Kiba rushed forward and roughly grabbed a hold of Sasuke arm. His grip tightened on the fair skinned arm and Sasuke met Kiba's glare with his own.

"There a problem Inuzuka?" Sasuke inquired but didn't attempt to break out of Kiba's grip.

"You're really getting on my nerves is all Uchiha," Kiba growled but just grew more and more angry as Sasuke didn't even change his look from a mixture of bemused and smug.

"Hmmm, I guess I should try to get off those nerves. Lest I be ending up in a room here just like Naruto," Sasuke smiled at his own comment as well as the sound that Sakura made a noise in the back of her throat. Kiba meanwhile had let go of Sasuke's arm as he said this and had staggered away at the comment. "What's the matter Inuzuka?"

"T-This isn't- I didn't-," Kiba attempted to explain but could only hold his head with a pained expression until Sakura placed a comforting hand onto his shoulder.

"Kiba relax. Sasuke shut up," the female student ordered the pair and rubbed her hand across Kiba's broad back while staring down Sasuke. "You know Sasuke . . . I know you want to visit Naruto and everything-" Sakura ignored the amused noise that Sasuke and Kiba both made. "-but it would probably be best if you came back later."

"Oh? Why's it that I should go and not the two of you?" Sasuke asked the girl, wondering what nerve she had to try and give him orders.

"Look Sasuke it would just be best," Sakura repeated and refrained from giving the Uchiha any actual reason.

"Yeah, run along now Uchiha," Kiba muttered waving the student away even though that he himself was still currently keeling over. "Someone like you should have better places to be then here."

Sasuke stood silently and didn't say a single word for a few moments, just staring at Kiba and Sakura. He was deliberating on whether or not he should take Sakura's advice, which would go against every ounce of his being, and leave the room or that he should stay in the room to spite them. But if he was being honest with himself, Sasuke was feeling very eager to get out of the cramped room and away from the brunette and pinkette.

"Fine whatever," Sasuke huffed in mock defeat. "I'll be back later when Kiba isn't here. Make things easier for everyone."

Turning on his heel, Sasuke faced the door and walked to it but before he could pass through a small figure cut him off as it appeared in the doorway. Though he could have easily pushed past the new figure, he refrained from the impolite gesture and instead stepped to the side so that the figure could enter the room but frowned when it didn't.

"Well isn't this just fantastic?" Sasuke sighed as he rubbed his eyes again but this was more out of the feeling of being strained than being tired. "Two more and it'll be all accounted for."

"What are you talking about Uchiha?" Kiba groaned, standing to his full height and stopped when he saw the figure in the door.

The figure was small, petite and female. She had long dark blue hair that hung down to her waist along with shorter strands that hung by the sides of her face. The girl had round and soft lavender eyes as well as fair skin much like Sasuke's. She wore a white sundress that stopped at her knees with light blue trimming and was holding a large brimmed straw hat, flat against her stomach. A lavender cardigan hugged her shoulders tightly and covered the upper part of her bare arms.

"Hey there-" Kiba started to greet the girl.

Sakura cut in however and hurried forward, meeting the shy girl in a tight hug, "Hinata."

"H-Hello Sakura," Hinata returned the girls greeting and buried her face into the pink haired girls shoulder. The two girls pulled out of the hug and Hinata looked up at Kiba and then to Sasuke. "H-Hi Kiba, S-Sasuke . . . I didn't think that there'd be other visitors here now."

"Yes well I was just leaving," Sasuke told Hinata and walked past her. However just as he passed the threshold, he stopped and turned back to the group with a slight smile on his face. "Would you look at this though . . . Look at the five of us all here together with one another . . . meat headed Karate Captain, Kiba Inuzuka-"

"Watch it Uchiha," Kiba growled at the boy but went unnoticed.

"- The ever popular tomboyish gymnast and class president-"

"Sasuke . . ." Sakura began to warn the raven haired student despite him not having actually said anything to critical.

"- This meek, timid, sensitive and shy little precious heiress of the Hyuga fortune-"

"I-I'm sorry . . ." Hinata apologised for something that wasn't even her fault. There had always been tension between Hinata and Sasuke, it was even rougher than Hinata and Neji's old relationship. Hinata had a free ride to success and fortunes due to being the first born of the Hyuga family while Sasuke was second born in his and had to work that much harder so that he was able to outdo his older brother Itachi.

"- And finally the former number one hyperactive and knuckleheaded student, Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke finished his little opinions of his 'friends'. "I don't think that the five of us all haven't seen each other since we were all at the ambulance yesterday. Usually my afternoon is assaulted by texts, IM's and phone calls from you guys. But alas I received none."

Kiba took a step towards Sasuke with an angry huff but was surprised as Sakura beat him to it, stepping between Kiba and Sasuke and grabbing the collar of the latter. "Sasuke . . . You are very lucky that we are standing in a hospital right now because I am sure that your attitude is going to make you need medical attention."

"Now, now. I hardly think that there is any need for talk like that," Sasuke reasoned smugly and held his hands up mock-defensively. "You know that I didn't mean to upset any of you."

"Y-Yes you d-did," Hinata piped up but shrunk back when Sasuke directed a glare at her.

"Look Sasuke-" Kiba started, attempting to shout at the raven haired 'friend' but once again he found himself being interrupted.

A light knocking hit the frame, rattling it loudly and causing the group to look around at the cause. For a moment each of them expected to see Ino or Sai standing in the doorway as that seemed to be a developing pattern. Instead all except one of them grew confused looks on their faces at the young man standing outside of the room.

The young man looked to be older than the others in the room, one or two years older. He was wearing a black hoody with a white vertical stripe on either side of his neck and a deep purple pair of trousers. The hood of his jumper was up and the shadow it created covered the majority of features but from what could be seen he had a dark brown fringe, broad nose and a strong jawline. Noticeably the young man was taller than Kiba, half a head at least, and had the same broad and muscular frame. They could have been mistaken for brothers, but the group knew otherwise.

"W-What are you doing here?" Kiba asked the man wearily and confused at his presence. "You didn't really even know Naruto."

"Uh . . . You know that's not why I'm here . . ." the young man answered and threw cautious glances at the others. "You didn't return any calls or texts so-"

"Left my phone at home," Kiba interjected.

"-so I asked Hana where you were and she told me you came here with Sakura," the young man finished, not the least bit phased by Kiba's explanation. He actually smiled slightly.

"Here I am . . ." Kiba replied quietly but didn't look up at the man. Still without looking up, Kiba walked to the door past everyone else and absently grabbed the young man by the front of his jumper and started to pull him away from the room. He turned to the others briefly and they noticed the Inuzuka's eyes looked blank and lacked their usual warmth. "I'm going to go and get some air with . . . yeah I'll see you all later. Take care of Naruto."

And with that Kiba walked down the hallway with the young man and vanished from sight. Sasuke turned from the door and looked over at the two girls, amused at the confused expressions that they shared though for a moment there was a glimpse of realisation in Sakura's eyes.

"Something you notice Sakura?" Sasuke asked with a curious tone and was met with the girl tripping over her own words and actions as she tried to deny it.

"W-What? N-N-No Sasuke . . . I j-just . . ." Sakura stammered and cursed herself internally for being caught off guard and unprepared. Eventually she managed to pull her phone from her skirt's tight pocket and hold it in front of her face. "I just received a message from Ino . . . She says that she's just arrived at the hospital car park . . . I'm going to go down and meet her . . ."

Tucking the phone back into her skirt pocket, Sakura hurried out of the room and brushed a loose strand of hair from her face.

"I-I'll go with you," Hinata called quietly to Sakura and followed her out of the room.

Just as the pair was about to leave for good, Sakura stuck her head back into the room and gave a concerned look at Sasuke, "Looks like you'll get some time with Naruto to yourself after all."

Sasuke scoffed as the pair left and he shut the door behind them. He had to admit that he was partly surprised that they would all just leave him in the room alone.

"Take care of him? Kiba is an idiot and a moron joined to make all new kinds of stupidity," Sasuke laughed to himself as he walked closer to Naruto's bed, stopping as he stood over the unconscious blonde. "How am I supposed to take care of you exactly, eh Naruto? Do I warm your feet? Fluff your pillow? Or maybe Kiba was attempting to tell me to do something else, something a bit more . . . merciful . . ."

With the last statement, Sasuke had brought his hand from his side to the wall where the power switch for Naruto's life support machine. Slowly and delicately he ran his finger over the button pausing every so often but not removing his finger.

"Sasuke . . . ?" a voice piped up from behind him. It took the Uchiha a moment to recognise it due to the lack of its usual flare and happiness. "What are you doing?"

"Ino," Sasuke stated without turning around and smiled as he withdrew the finger and smiled down at Naruto.

"_Well shit," _the Uchiha swore internally at the girl's presence. Frowning on the inside.

* * *

**Super Shiny Note: OOOOOoohhhhhh…. I wonder if you can guess who the hooded guy is though it could be kind of obvious if you think real hard. But then again I wrote it so I can guess real easy….**

**Well there it is and I do hope that you liked it because I do. So it doesn't matter if you didn't. Review if you want or if you can or whatever . . . and PM with concerns or anecdotes or jokes or whatever you want. **


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